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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25684918">Just The Once</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiced_1990/pseuds/spiced_1990'>spiced_1990</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Spice Girls</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:20:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,189</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25684918</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiced_1990/pseuds/spiced_1990</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>If someone asked her for details about it later, if she gave an answer at all, she’d say that things had been headed in this direction forever.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Melanie Brown/Geri Halliwell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Just The Once</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If someone asked her for details about it later, if she gave an answer at all, she’d say that things had been headed in this direction forever. But nobody <em> would </em> ask because one of the first things a very hungover Geri had said in the morning was that for once (for bloody once) she needed to keep her big gob shut. </p><p> </p><p>And she’d do almost anything if Geri asked. If she was in a good mood. And she’d been in a good mood at the time. Sex always helped with that, but it had felt like something else altogether, something she wasn’t going to examine too closely in case all her theories and views collapsed under the weight of overthinking. </p><p> </p><p>She wasn’t making a habit of trolling clubs for one night stands, so it wasn’t as if she was only used to fucking perfect strangers and that’s why it had felt different. Neither was she<em> totally </em> new to sleeping with women, which might also have explained it. </p><p> </p><p>And so. </p><p> </p><p>“You ever gonna get your arse down here?!” Emma called, her voice resonating loudly from the kitchen in a way Mel thought most people wouldn’t expect from her generally soft-spoken friend. “Your tea’ll be colder than a witch’s tit soon.”</p><p> </p><p>Huffing out a breath as she scrambled into a pair or jeans and an old crop top and jogged down the stairs, Mel tried to ignore the giddy anticipation she felt. Pathetic, honestly, given that she’d barely spent a day apart from Geri in the past month. Their morning routine hadn’t differed from any of the other nights they’d spent sharing a bed, whether clinging to the sides or wrapped around each other as though the end of the world was coming. And maybe it was. </p><p> </p><p>“You, my love, are a<em> delight </em>.” The cup was still warm on her hands, and she leaned in to give her bandmate a kiss to the cheek, grateful. “I assume Geri’s already onto her third.” Casual. Not casual enough, judging by the raised eyebrow Emma gave her in response. </p><p> </p><p>“Second. Close enough. What on <em> earth </em> did you pour down her throat last night, Melanie? I know you two probably didn’t get home until late, but she barely grunted at me this morning and usually she can at least muster up a hello.”</p><p> </p><p>Resisting the urge to make a filthy (but probably too honest, given the circumstances) joke, Mel blew on the tea and grabbed a banana before leaving the kitchen. Hunting time. </p><p> </p><p>Geri’s bedroom door was five pushes away from having to be called something other than a door, given that it was barely hanging onto its hinges. Slightly ajar, it took barely a nudge of her hip before opening into the small space. Her bandmate was sitting on the edge of the mattress, one leg crossed under the other and a worn tan-coloured blanket around her shoulders. Geri was always so cold and if she was anybody else, if it was any other day, she might offer to warm her up. </p><p> </p><p>The eyes that met hers were conflicted and cautious, and Mel was struck with the urge to kiss everything but desire out of them. </p><p> </p><p>“Budge over then, Gez,” she said instead, bumping her shoulder gently as she sat down next to her friend. “I refuse to let us be weird about this. Let me steal some blanket?”</p><p> </p><p>Geri let out a short bark of a laugh, its huskiness sounding even more delightful in the still dark room - curtains drawn, door shut, it made an appealing image. “I don’t know what I even expected,” she said, taking a sip of her tea. “You were never going to come down here blushing and stuttering over what to say, were you?”</p><p> </p><p>“Considered it, but I’m doing this thing called whatever I want these days, y’know.”</p><p> </p><p>She could almost see the words ‘and was I what you wanted?’ being swallowed down, and maybe it was childish of her to need to hear it back. “As opposed to usual?” Geri asked. </p><p> </p><p>“Fair.”</p><p> </p><p>She unpeeled the banana and took a small bite, setting down her mug on the floor, taking care not to spill any of it. Of all the girls, Geri was the one she felt most comfortable not talking with. Talking with as well, of course, but not talking had always been harder for her. </p><p> </p><p>“Do you think that maybe - ”</p><p> </p><p>“Should we - ”</p><p> </p><p>Fucking words. “Interrupt me one more time, sweetheart, and this door is being locked and this room is being turned into a bloody den of iniquity or somethin’.” </p><p> </p><p>“Is that a threat?”</p><p> </p><p>“More like a promise,” Mel said. “Don’t test me.”</p><p> </p><p>Geri’s mug (they’d picked it up in some shitty bric-a-brac store near her mum’s home a few months back) was placed carefully on the floor next to her own. The banana followed. An unlikely pair, people had always said, on seeing how close the two of them were. Maybe so. She wouldn’t argue with that. Nevertheless, even with all the awkward fumbling and whispered questions and slightly uncomfortable moments last night, Mel couldn’t say it was anything but perfect. </p><p> </p><p>“C’mere,” she invited, clumsily climbing over the mattress until there was enough room to lean back against the wall, her feet still hanging over the edge. “Just get your daft self over here already, for god’s sake.”</p><p> </p><p>Geri’s hand was slightly clammy when she tangled her fingers in her own, captivated by the contrasts in size and colour. Contentedly humming, she shifted so they were laying down sharing the pillow, flame-red and dark curls against off-white. </p><p> </p><p>The redhead sneezed, hiding her mouth in the crook of her elbow. “Such a lady,” Mel teased. “I’d’ve gotten snot all over you, best believe it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wasn’t such a lady last night, though,” came the faux chagrined retort from under her breath, a few words that left Melanie momentarily speechless until she collapsed in a fit of giggles, her head coming to rest on Geri’s chest. “Shut up, you bitch.” Fondness laced her voice, her fingertips reaching familiarly to comb through the younger woman’s hair (last night she’d pulled and tugged and it had hurt in the best of ways). </p><p> </p><p>“Are you planning on being a lady <em> tonight </em>?” Not her most subtle come-on but for fuck’s sake, everything about this had her slightly on edge so the gods better not blame her. Geri stilled, immediately. Well, damn. They hadn’t really talked about it last night, not really, just enough to establish Geri knew nothing and she knew a little more than, just enough to swallow each other’s cries and moans with words of caution.</p><p> </p><p>Mel squeezed her eyes shut, tensing for the words she expected would follow, the ‘it was a mistake’ and ‘not my thing’ that she could usually sense a mile away whenever someone had used her (and she used them back so no harm, no foul) for an experiment. </p><p> </p><p>“Get it over with.”</p><p> </p><p>Geri’s lips were slightly chapped and dry as they met Mel’s, her hands a little uncertain as they reached for her shirt. “I thought maybe this time we could take it slow.”</p>
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